She put him in a choke hold

-Area resident recalls lessons in Brazilian Jiujitsu.

-Area resident recalls lessons in Brazilian Jiujitsu.

October 10, 2006

When she began learning Brazilian Jiujitsu at an academy in her native Sao Paulo several years ago, Cristiane Ripari was the only girl among the students. Brazilian Jiujitsu is a martial art and combat sport where the goal is to gain a dominant position over your opponent and force him or her to surrender. In training, a fighter surrenders by tapping on the mat. What first attracted Cristiane to the sport was the ab workout that she watched the students do at the gym. The master would step on their stomachs. It was very rigorous, recalls Cristiane, a dancer who teaches Brazilian dance in town. One day, while training in jiujitsu at the academy, one of the students, a skinny guy about her height, Cristiane recalls, asked her to practice some moves with him. Cristiane agreed. She climbed on top of him and placed him in a choke hold, her arm tightly wrapped around his neck. Cristiane says she started squeezing harder and harder, but this guy wouldn't surrender. He wouldn't tap on the mat. It seemed to Cristiane that perhaps he was trying to impress her by showing her just how strong he was. "Are you feeling something?" she recalls asking him. "Squeeze, squeeze," was his confident reply. "I can handle this." So Cristiane did as she was told. She squeezed harder and harder, until, suddenly, he went limp. He had passed out. Cristiane says she quickly called the master, who came over to see what had happened. The other students also gathered around to watch. Soon, they all discovered the guy had not only passed out after failing to tap, but had also urinated on the mat. When he finally woke up, Cristiane recalls, all the other students made fun of him. Wow! I guess there is such a thing as being too macho for your own good. Cristiane wasn't the only girl in her academy for long. Soon, others joined. "It was very fashioned in Brazil," she says. "Everybody that's cool practiced jiujitsu. Now there are many girls who practice." Brazilian Jiujitsu comes from the Japanese martial art of jujitsu, which is centuries old. In the early 20th century, a Japanese immigrant to Brazil named Mitsuyo Maeda taught jujitsu to Carlos Gracie and his brothers. The Gracie family lived in Rio de Janeiro and is credited with founding the Brazilian version of the Japanese art, which is a new art in itself. Pablo Ros Voces Latinas Pablo Ros writes a weekly feature for The Tribune. Like jujitsu, Brazilian Jiujitsu emphasizes technique over strength, the idea that the soft can dominate over the hard by applying the right moves. However, Brazilian Jiujitsu differentiated itself from jujitsu by developing its own techniques and style. Cristiane came to the United States in 2002 and at first couldn't find a place to continue practicing and learning Brazilian Jiujitsu. "I was very upset," she recalls. Eventually she found Carlson Gracie's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Chapter Wally, which opened in 2003. Now located in the Town & Country Shopping Centre, the academy was founded by Wally Holem, 33. Holem says he learned Brazilian Jiujitsu from Carlson Gracie Sr., one of the sons of Carlos Gracie. Holem says he was introduced to the sport by a friend he was visiting in Brazil in 1994. "I fell in love with it," he says. Holem says he was amazed by how "easily and fluidly" his master was able to move him around on the mat without applying strength. That's what attracted him to the sport, which has become one of the most respected martial arts in MMA or mixed martial arts competitions. Studying the sport with Carlson Gracie Sr., Holem says, was "one of the biggest highlights of my life." Carlson died in February, at the age of 70, of heart failure. The Gracie family carries on the tradition of teaching Brazilian Jiujitsu. A Spanish version of this story can be found at www.southbendtribune.com.Staff writer Pablo Ros: pros@sbtinfo.com (574) 235-6555 Next week: Meet a local resident who practices the Brazilian art of capoeira.